I had grand plans for an in-depth article about just how crazy we are for crisps, but someone at the Guardian got there before me a few weeks ago.
I'll take one stat from the article: on average we eat 150 packets of crisps a year. No-one can match us, except perhaps the Americans. We're obsessed by them. Crisps with sandwiches, crisps in sandwiches, crisps in a bowl watching TV, crisps on the bus, crisps at a picnic or barbecue, crisps while reading the paper, crisps in the pub, crisps at home after the pub.
The most I ever had in one sitting was eight packets of ready salted Hula Hoops one night in the college bar. A small group of us got through a whole 48-packet box, and I even kept one ripped side of the box for a few years as a memento of the historic achievement. What a loser. You wouldn't get students in France or Spain doing that.
Since starting the challenge, three colleagues have told me they've started to eat more crisps than normal, but couldn't tell me exactly why. It's as if there's a cosmic crisp consumption quota that has to be filled in order to prevent the universe from collapsing in on itself, like an empty crisp packet shrivelling up when thrown on a fire, and we British seem to instinctively know when there's a shortfall.
If I was more of a nationalistic person, I'd spin our unhealthy addiction into a Daily Mail-esque headline about how this great country is single-handedly preventing a premature Big Crunch by scoffing our way through 6 billion packets a year. And all this heroism despite the avalanche of illegal foreign savoury foodstuffs that are threatening to destroy our proud snacking heritage.
So for those of you who aren't sure what to eat when you next get a hunger pang, just remember: eat crisps, save the universe.
How are you classifying a crisp?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I ask is that I am currently munching through a rather morish packet of Salt and Vinegar Snack-a-Jacks and can't find the word crisp anywhere on the packet - they call themselves a rice and corn snack.
...are you refraining from consuming these or are you sticking strictly to the traditional potato based crisps?
Rice cakes are a thorny issue, and probably deserving of their own blog post.
ReplyDeleteBest comment from the Guardian article:
ReplyDelete"I'm known for adding crisps to every sandwich I eat, it improves the experience by around 100%. Imagine how delighted I was to discover that up in Birmingham, you can get sandwich fillings with crisps already in. Result."
OK, so I corrected it slightly for spelling and grammar (the editor's curse), but you've got to love those Brummies.